One of the most read-released articles we’ve had in recent months is the one published last Monday about the problems facing Miami International Airport, because of the epidemic and some other problems rated by Aviation Department officials of concern, many people have asked us to publish the article in English, to please these readers , here is the article translated into the English language, we hope you enjoy it.
MIAMI 16 DE JULIO DE 2020, –Many experts say that the return of normal operations at Miami International Airport will take longer than expected.
The COVID-19 epidemic keeps terminals with few passengers, and almost all stores closed, restaurants running out of operations and consequently thousands of people out of jobs, but according to some airport officials, they hope that by the end of the year progress will begin to see progress.
However, that official gave us information about another of the problems MIA has, with lobbyists and construction contracts.
According to that official there are companies that obtain contracts for the low price they offer and then over the years, they ask for and ask for more new funds, “Change Order”, according to them “some ghost” that came out in the play.
“This is a serious problem,” he told us, adding that a contract is sometimes increased to twice what was originally awarded.
“There are times when companies go to tender and offer a lower price, because they know that they will then be able to favor the so-called Change Orders,” said consultant Luis Mata of the firm Mata Consultant.
In nelsonhortareporta.com we conducted an investigation and one of the companies that caught our attention is Munilla Construction Management which a single contract obtained on December 19, 2011 for $50 million made it one of more than $129 million, “something amazing,” the official who offered us the data told us.
MCM is the same company that was involved in the collapse of the famous FIU Bridge, on March 15, 2018 and where 6 people were crushed by the huge concrete mole, months later Munilla Construction changed its name to Magnum Construction Management and again resumed tenders with the county and for his position at MIA.
But to give them a closer view of what happens to the Change Orders, we chose one in which MCM licensed and won on December 19, 2011 long before the fall of the FIU bridge and the release of the market as Munilla Construction and its switch to Magnum.
The contract obtained that day was to carry out various projects at Miami Dade airports.
MCM subsequently requested four different “Change Order”, one on February 18, 2015 for $30 million, another on March 8, 2018 for $10 million, a year later on March 7, 2017, the $6 million application occurred and on February 20, 2019, and possibly the most controversial comes nearly a year after the FIU bridge collapse occurred , this time MCM requested a 548-day extension, “something that benefited them as the new MCC9 project was delayed,” the official told us.
The same source was surprised that the total order change amount through February 2019 had increased the original amount by 159%, in other words, increased its original contract from $50,000,000 to $129,925,000.
This and another official told us that MCM has lost another contract, but they are currently engaged in a protest with the company that won that contract, “protests are one of the weapons MCM uses to delay lost tenders,” told us one of the Aviation Department officials, who promised to give us more information on this aspect.
Another concern of the two officials is related to the request for PPP (Payroll Protection) loans granted by the federal government through the Small Business Administration that gave Magnum $2,000,000.00 and it is unknown whether the company that had filed for bankruptcy has the necessary employees for the loan application, “although this is not a MIA matter , if it’s worrying,” he told us.
We in nelsonhortareporta.com will continue to investigate all the conditions that are related to Miami Aviation and its contracts and especially the requests for “Change Orders”, which make in the first order the bidding companies offer a low price and then change it and then increase the cost of the projects.
